%0 Generic
%A Alber, Ina
%D 2012
%F heidok:14035
%K nanowire, nanowire dimer, ion track-etched membrane, electrodeposition, on-wire lithography, electron energy-loss spectroscopy, surface plasmon resonance, 
%R 10.11588/heidok.00014035
%T Synthesis and Plasmonic Properties of Metallic Nanowires and Nanowire Dimers
%U https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/14035/
%X Cylindrical, metallic nanowires were electrochemically grown in nanochannels created in polymer membranes by etching of ion tracks. These nanowires consisted of  Au or AuAg alloy with varying element ratio. In additon, segmented Au-rich/Ag-rich/Au-rich nanowires were synthesized by applying pulsed deposition. The duration  of the pulses controls the length of the segments. By subsequent chemical dissolution  nanowires separated by nanogaps with dimensions as small as 5 nm were also created,  so-called nanowire dimers. Incomplete dissolution of the gap resulted in dimers connected  by a conductive junction. Upon the excitation of surface plasmons in dimers  separated by nanogaps smaller than 20 nm, high field enhancement is generated in  the nanogap. We analysed the plasmonic properties of the synthesized structures by  electron energy loss spectroscopy in a transmission electron microscope. This method  enables the simultaneous investigation of the nanostructure morphology and the surface  plasmon resonance energies. The analysis of single nanowires, and capacitively  and conductively coupled nanowire dimers revealed that the resonance energies depend  sensitively on many parameters, as length, diameter, gap size, as well as composition  and morphology. Precise knowledge of the plasmonic properties of the synthesized  structures are important for the future applications as substrates for surface enhanced  infrared and Raman spectroscopy.